91Èȱ¬

The 91Èȱ¬ has today published the latest detailed quarterly expenses for its most senior leaders, along with salary details for the additional 462 permanent licence fee-funded senior managers, as part of its continuing programme of transparency.

The 91Èȱ¬ has been reducing costs across the organisation as a priority, so that as much investment as possible goes into high-quality programmes. Today's figures show that the total expenses claimed by the 110 most senior 91Èȱ¬ executives are now 35% lower than they were a year ago.

In addition, new figures show that as of the end of December the 91Èȱ¬ has cut its senior manager paybill by 13.6% and the number of senior managers by 8.5%. Further reductions will be made by the end of the year in order to deliver the 25% reduction in pay bill and 20% reduction in headcount agreed with the Trust.

Information on senior manager salaries has previously been made public in response to FOI requests and in our annual report, but is now to be published in more detailed form in response to a request from the Trust.

91Èȱ¬ Chief Operating Officer, Caroline Thomson, said: "The 91Èȱ¬ faces some tough financial choices ahead as we take on funding for new responsibilities while the licence fee is frozen for six years. We want to ensure that as much of the Licence Fee as possible goes into making quality programmes. This means reducing our remaining overheads wherever possible – for example choosing the cheapest option rather than the quickest. That's why we have set more stringent efficiency targets for the background cost of running the 91Èȱ¬ than for our content areas, and today's publication demonstrates we are acting to cut pay, expenses and overheads.

"We also know that Licence Fee payers want more information about how we spend their money. Our disclosure today of more salary information than ever before demonstrates that the 91Èȱ¬ is leading the way in being open and transparent."

Notes to Editors

1. The 91Èȱ¬ is today publishing details of the expense claims and gifts and hospitality register for the 110 most senior leaders at the organisation for the period July-September 2010. These people have been identified according to their salary, responsibility and reference, and their exact salaries are already published on the website. In addition, details of the salaries of the 462 remaining permanent 91Èȱ¬ Senior Managers are being published for the first time, in bands of £5,000. The details will be published on the section of the 91Èȱ¬ website.

2. The 91Èȱ¬ Trust is also disclosing information on its Senior Managers today and this information can be found on the .

3. The 91Èȱ¬ has published 2,564 lines of information on expenses, making redactions to just 1% of the entries (29 lines) because of commercial sensitivity or private personnel matters. This demonstrates the 91Èȱ¬'s progressive approach to disclosure.

91Èȱ¬ Press Office